The invention relates generally to computer-automated development of an orthodontic treatment and appliance.
Orthodontics is the branch of dentistry that deals with the straightening of crooked teeth. Although there are many types of appliances that can be used by an orthodontist to straighten the teeth, the most common appliance is braces. Braces include a variety of appliances such as brackets, archwires, ligatures, and O-rings, and attaching braces to a patient's teeth is a tedious and time consuming enterprise requiring many meetings with the treating orthodontist. Consequently, conventional orthodontic treatment limits an orthodontist's patient capacity and makes orthodontic treatment quite expensive.
Before fastening braces to a patient's teeth, at least one appointment is typically scheduled with the orthodontist, dentist, and/or X-ray laboratory so that X-rays and photographs of the patient's teeth and jaw structure can be taken. Also during this preliminary meeting, or possibly at a later meeting, an alginate mold of the patient's teeth is typically made. This mold provides a model of the patient's teeth that the orthodontist uses in conjunction with the X-rays and photographs to formulate a treatment strategy. The orthodontist then typically schedules one or more appointments during which braces will be attached to the patient's teeth.
Historically, the practice of orthodontics has been a manual process that relied on the doctor's skills and judgment. A number of parties are creating and providing products and services that can be grouped together under the appellation ‘virtual orthodontics’. The principle elements of virtual orthodontics are representations of the teeth and of orthodontic components such as brackets and wire.
One of the values of virtual orthodontics is that the user can make choices among available components before actually implementing the treatment approach. For instance, an orthodontist can evaluate options by choosing different bracket prescriptions and features such as hooks or ligation methods before the brackets are applied to a patient's teeth.